Blogging on Blogger is Badass
In its
simplicity, its authenticity, and its far-reaching accessibility—in a
word—Blogger is badass.
Perhaps
the biggest payoff of using Blogger as part of an educational curriculum is its
capacity to provide immediate publication to a potentially limitless audience. For writing instructors—or
cross-curricular teachers who strive to provide their students with authentic
writing assignments—this can be a great way to have students tap into the
social networking world. This screams
AUDIENCE, and that can provide a significant motivating factor for student
writers that wish to have their voice heard.
Once
you get the hang of it, it’s easy to use.
You can personalize it and toggle with the aesthetics. And best of all, it’s free.
I’m
riding this Blogger wave so hard right now that I’m in the process of starting
up a blog for my Writing Center at Antioch University Santa Barbara. My hope is that it’ll provide my staff
and me with a way to document the little writing world in which we live in—reflections,
feelings, struggles, suggestions, and overall, a basis by which we can connect
with each other through writing. And, maybe just maybe, make some like-minded digital friends along the
way.
Hey Zack,
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to hear about your newfound interest in blogging. I think blogging has a great potential as a learning and communication tool. I look forward to hearing how you find ways to use it at Antioch. One of my previous high school teachers, who is now the district tech coordinator in Encinitas, uses blogging to share new tools, insights, and ideas with all of the teachers in his district (http://sduhsdtech.blogspot.com/). The site is open for teachers to share their own experiences using tech as well. It's a great way to build a stronger community and share knowledge.
Hi Zack, I enjoyed your post about blogging. I have recently set up a blog to document my progress on my preparation for my field exams. Your point about audience really resonates with me. The thought that my reflections on various books or ideas about my research will be "published" on the net is certainly kind of cool, but it would be really motivating if I knew there was an actual audience out there reading what I was posting. So far, I haven't allowed access to the blog because I am too self-conscious about my writing. But maybe I should get over myself and open it up to the world wide web. I have not thought about how to use a blog in language teaching yet. It might be motivating for students to publish journal entries written in the language they are trying to learn. Then other students could make comments and the teacher could give some suggestions. Anyway, Happy Blogging!
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